Illinois to start taking applications Tuesday for new cannabis stores. Winners will be announced by May.

The Chicago Tribune reports…

Illinois regulators plan to start taking applications Tuesday for new recreational marijuana retail stores, officials announced.

Applications to open up to 75 new adult-use cannabis dispensaries beyond the ones already approved by the state will be taken from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on business days Tuesday through Jan. 2, at the office of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago.

The state has already licensed 30 existing medical cannabis dispensaries to begin legal retail sales to adults 21 and over starting Jan. 1. The state also is considering recreational licenses for additional existing medical dispensaries.

New applicants will be judged on a point system to determine who will receive the licenses. In case of a tie in scoring of applications in the same Bureau of Labor Statistics region, the agency will decide the winner by a random drawing. All the winners are to be announced by May 1.

Each application will cost a nonrefundable $5,000. Winners will have to shell out another $60,000 for the new dispensary license.

Applications for craft growers, infusers and transporters will be available through the Illinois Department of Agriculture beginning Jan. 7 through March 15. Application fees for those licenses also cost a nonrefundable $5,000. Infuser licenses will cost another $5,000, transporting licenses $10,000, and craft growers $40,000.

Social equity applicants for dispensaries, including those with past marijuana-related convictions, or those with a majority of owners or employees who come from areas most affected by the war on drugs, are eligible to get credit for an extra 20% of the total 250 points available on scoring of applications. Other top criteria include security and record keeping, business plan, financials, and operating plan, and knowledge and experience.

The emergency rules for applications were posted on the IDFPR website.

68 IAC 1291 Adult Use Cannabis Emergency Rules

 

Applications must delivered in-person. Up to 47 of the new dispensaries are to be in the Chicago area.

Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/marijuana/illinois/ct-marijuana-store-applications-illinois-20191210-hip77es5rfen3njq3nn4njf5wq-story.html

Primary Sponsor

 


Karma Koala Podcast

Top Marijuana Blog